OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

2500 p.comino@q... (Paul Comino) 1996‑07‑24 Bio - Long overdue.(L-o-n-g)
G'day Assembled Galoots, I humbly present for your consideration the
bearing of my mind and soul, in the hope that I may be admitted to your
esteemed membership.

First, my personals: I am Paul Comino, husband of a typical SWMBO, and
father of an apprentice swmbo, who is now 15 years old.(And getting more
like Mum every day) By day, I am a Snr Technician with the School of
Chemistry, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Here my job is to manage the instrument laboratories. The instruments I
play with include UV/Vis, FT-IR, DSC, TGA/DTA, AA, FP, Fluor, NMR, GC,
HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS, and other sundries. The work I really enjoy. We are
at http://www.qut.edu.au

Second, the admissions of GUILT: I do use - dare I say it -
electric tools!

But these are all pre-decimal electric tools. Does that make it OK? I
don't have a belt sandah, or one of those new-fangled
random-thingie-sandahs.

I do have a Wolfenden surfacer (jointer)- Aussie made, pre WWII, all
cast iron, 12" x 73" bed; a Wadkin Bursgreen (British) Superplane
surfacer, 9" x 86" bed; a Durden (Aussie) thicknesser (planer) 14":; a
Smellie (Yep, that's the brand!) Aussie pre-WWII band saw, 18", all cast
wheels, frame, and table, flat belt drive; a 26" wooden bandsaw - This
was made during WWII, when there was a different priority for great
chunks of cast iron. It has a wood frame, wood wheels, and wood table.
The axles, flanges, blade, and guides are steel. Flat belt drive. There
is also a combination machine, bench grinder, and drill press which I
won't mention.

Now for the real stuff: I bought my fisrt planes in about 1964. A No 4
British Stanley, and a 5-1/2 Aussie Stanley. They were new, and I didn't
know too much except that I liked them and I liked to work wood. The 4
looked like the sole was "flattened" on a belt sander with a foam rubber
backing plate. The toe, mouth, and heel all tapered gently away from the
plane of the sole. Needless to say, it didn't work very well. I next
bought a wood smoother. A beech Mathieson & Son, Glasgow & Edinburgh.
This had a w-i-d-e mouth, but a fair sole. When I sharpened the blade, I
was *amazed* at how well it worked for me. Not one to learn from the
error of my ways, I continued to acquire tools, almost none of which are
anything to write home about.

I now have a No 3, 4, 4-1/2, 5, 5c, 5-1/2, 6, 7, 71, 78, 80, 220,
60-1/2, 79, 90, 92, 102, 220, 271, 13-050, a Record 735, 405, and LN
1/2" rebate (rabbet) kit.(Still in kit form) I have only one of each, so
you can see I an not a collector.....well...I do have two No 4's, and
two 5's, but that isn't really collecting. Is it? I admit that the only
thing (SWMBO asside) that stops me from collecting is *money*. I want
them all!! At least three of each!!!! No, more!!! ..sorry... I got a bit
carried away there ....sorry... I have held, examined, drooled over a No
1, and I am sure it wanted me, but alas, it wasn't to be ): My bench
users all have Hock blades, as do the several Krenov type planes I have
made. There is a small mob of (generally Mathieson & Son) beech bench
planes (9", 10", 18", 24"), and a gaggle of a dozen or two unspectacular
moulding planes. Oh! And a few Japanese planes.

There is a nice bunch of carving tools. Mainly Addis, Herring, Ward, and
Taylor. Jeff G will know these. Good British steel! Yeah, and some
Pfeil, Stubai, and Henry Taylor, but none of those Flexi-cut things. I
don't use these as much as I did when I was more into period furniture.
I now prefer to do simpler work - Krenovian stuff.

Hey, this is becoming boring. Feel free to leave or grab a beer
whenever you like.

My bench is nothing special - 10" cast vice (vise, for most of you), two
leg vices, a tool well. It is probably a typical British style. I do
have a European trained cabinetmaker mate (An Aussie Frank Klausz Sp?)
who makes 2-1/2" wood threads, and all the bits and pieces for the
traditional benches. He normally does bookbinding gear which requires
wood threads, and almost all are exported to USA. I will post his
details one first Monday.

On the wall there is a poster displaying a list of twenty "Warning to
Woodworkers". It is from "WHITE" the "Headquarters of Woodworking
Machinery" in Paisley, Scotland. I will post the list some day.

Sharpening - first grinding. There is an old cast iron double head
grinder - white metal bearings, flat belt drive. It (and all my other
grinders) is fitted with an AlOx 38A white wheel. I drive it slowly
with a third horse motor. There are two hand cranked grinders - one 6",
and t'other 8". But my favourite is a horizontal wheel pedal operated
gizmo. Picture a 6" x 1" horizontal wheel mounted on a 38" long
vertical tube / shaft. About a foot from the bottom is a single foot
operated pedal with a ratchet machanism inside the 1-1/2" dia tube.
Stand next to this thing with one foot on the ground and one on the
pedal. Pump the pedal down like a child with one of those spinning
tops. The faster you pump, the faster it goes!! Not the most stable
arrangement, but great fun! It is called "The Heyden" "All Ball (one
and all) Drive Bearings" "All British" Cast on the pedal is "Heyden
Allball Redruth" Part of the logo is a shield full of - you guessed it
- balls. I think that this may have been an early use of the then new
invention of ball bearings. Any other ideas??

Is anyone still with me??

Stones. Hmmmmmm. Gunna get into trouble here. I have natural Western
from slate to surgical black Arkansas (with lots I can't identify), man
made Western (the usual range), natural Japanese (one cheapie from JWW),
man made Japanese (to the finest with nagura stone), diamond (EZE lap
and 12" precision DMT on 1/2" steel plate), ceramic (a couple). I have
used Brasso on wood, cerium oxide on glass, silicone carbide on iron
plate, and wet'n'dry on granite. I use all of them for different jobs.
Not all are flat. Some don't need to be flat. It depends greatly on
*how* you use them, and for *what* you are using them. My hypothesis is
that steels were developed around the regionally available natural
sharpening stone. So the Japanese had this friable, porous stone, and
they found that the best edge could be obtained on relatively hard
steel, so that is what they made. OTOH, the Brits, the Eurupeans, and
the US of A 'ites had these other, harder stones lying around the
paddocks, and they found that the best edge could be had on a slightly
softer steel. So, after all that, I say you should use whatever
materials and methods works best for *you*. And always have an open
mind. When you stop learning, that is when you know when you are dead.

Anyone need caffeine or a beer? Wine, perhaps?

High up, screwed to a shelf, are three saw vices. An Aussie Dawn, a
Sargent & Co, and one where the cast name has been filed to oblivion.
Next to them is a hand cranked bench drill - missing a pinion gear ):

There are saws, chisels, squares and stuff in drawers. Two W Tyzack Sons
& Turner No 120 Nonpariel saws - a 14", 13tpi tenon; and an 8", 20 tpi
dovetail. Silver steel, heavy brass back, Nice stamp on the brass. Nice
saws, but *too* much set.

Chisels are nothing special - Sorby and Marples - boxwood, rosewood, and
ash handled - mostly newish. Same for the squares - new Ulmia, and
Bridge City.

There is shellac, glue, glue pots up over there. Button (two
grades), orange (three grades), blonde; and the rabbit skin, Russian
match, jointers pearl, fish, and caseine glue. Some for use, and
some for display only. (Some materials get a bit iff'ey after thirty
or so years.)

And a bunch of blacksmiths tongs and stuff over on the wall. Next to the
14" hard disk, and the 5-1/4" floppy. Ya gotta have *some* contrast!

Enough! Enough! Enough! (I hear you say)

But first another confession..... I had been on OLDTOOLS some time ago -
just lurking - and I liked what I saw, but was not up to the volume,
with work and family commitments. I did a stint on RWW, earlier. And on
IRC, I sometimes have a yarn with that mob - OLDtoolers, RWW'ers, and
OTH'ers. On a few occasions, the subject has been oldtools - tuning or
making planes, chisels, and other bits and pieces. I would like to see
more of this on IRC, and will post with some ideas soon. I have been
dropping in here occasionally, peeking over the verandah (porch) rail to
see what was happening. I hope I'm now here on a more regular basis.

I have been chatting with Odeen on IRC a few times, and while I was
there, I ordered a GALOOT cap. Well, I now have it, but realise that
there must be an as yet un-written rule that says that those not yet
welcomed to the porch should not wear said cap. With this in mind, I
have made a personal undertaking to myself that- THE CAP WILL NOT
COVER MY CRANIUM UNTIL I AM ADMITTED AS A MEMBER OF THE NEANDERMOB.
(Hey! I never noticed before how my forehead is flatish and slopes
back - strange)

With that undertaking, I submit my sole for your consideration.

Paul Comino Ocker on IRC Brisbane, Australia.

Lotsa lines to say "G'day!"


Recent Bios FAQ